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Patent myth
“Patents are only for large companies.”
Indian official fees are substantially reduced for natural persons, startups, small entities and educational institutions, and expedited examination is available to several of those categories.
The concessional fee scale is significant - often around a fifth of the standard rate - and expedited examination under rule 24C is open to startups, small entities, applicants where at least one is a female natural person, government bodies and institutions substantially financed by government, among others. The real cost is drafting quality, not official fees.
Small teams skip filing on cost grounds, then discover the concession would have covered most of the difference.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Rules, 2003, as amended (e-version updated to 15 March 2024) — Official IP India text
Related
When should a startup file its first patent?
When you can describe how it works well enough for a competent engineer in your field to build it - and always before anything becomes public.
Request for examination
A separate request (Form 18) asking the Patent Office to actually examine your application. Without it, nothing happens.
The application is in the wrong name
The applicant is who will own the patent. Getting it wrong affects fee category, chain of title, who can sue, and what an investor sees in diligence - and correcting…
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.